Legacy of Time
by Compass94
Summary: A fic which narrates the stories of most of the Pokemon of the PMD games although it concentrates much more on the Pokemon of the future. Inspired by PMD: Explorers of Sky special episodes.


**First of all I'd like to clarify that there are hardly any pairings here. There's only some GrovylexCelebi but it's very mild. The rest is just friendship among the heroes. Well, that's all I have to say. Comments are always welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PMD games or their characters but I do own the plot of this story.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The beginning of a friendship**

The green, two-legged Pokemon hit hard on the ground, leaving a cry of pain. He had hit his head and was seeing stars but he was glad that he had neither passed out nor broken anything. He would have broken his tail hadn't it been made completely out of leaves, but he was simply lucky on that.

His hand's claws dug in the ground as he forced himself to stand up again. Pain seared through his entire body but he had to keep fighting. Leaves similar to these that formed his tail stood on his wrists and these said leaves then glowed and extended to form a sharp blade; a Grovyle's deadliest weapon.

He raised his arms in an attempt to take his fighting stance but winced as he did so. A big scratch could be seen on his red belly and the pain it caused him threatened to restrict his movements. Ignoring it, he took a stance that seemed like a sorry imitation of his actual fighting stance.

He shook his head a tad, only to raise the leaf atop it that was pitifully hanging low behind his back, seeming nothing like it usually did. The grass-type tried to gather all the courage and determination that was left inside him but he failed to relight the fire that had lit his bright, amber eyes until now.

He prepared to dart towards his opponent, realizing that he had reacted way too slowly. He received another hard hit that cut his breath and sent him flying. He knew it well: his end was close. The question was just how close? That thought made all of his memories flow into his mind in a flash.

That very one moment shone more brightly than the others, indicating the day that he had actually started living.

The day everything had begun…

* * *

A Grovyle was jumping from tree to tree in a dull, grey forest. His characteristics showed clearly that he was a Pokemon raised with the rules of the reality he lived in: the paralyzed world's reality. He, of course, didn't know that back then.

All he knew were methods to survive. These methods were determined by a few simple rules. Don't make friends or family as you'll have to protect them as well. Don't trust anyone. No life's worth more than your own life. Don't let your feelings interfere with your actions. Mind your own business.

Having lost his parents at a very young age, that Grovyle had learned these rules well. The loss of his parents forced him to fight hard for his survival. He taught himself how to fight and even managed to evolve to the second stage. That meant that he had more possibilities to stay alive than the Pokemon who hadn't evolved.

Plus, he learned how to earn his food either by eliminating anyone who had their eyes on what he considered "his meal" or by stealing it from others. Since the second was easier and involved less risk than engaging in a battle, he usually resorted to it. He was thief and a good one that was.

Also, he was proud of his perfect self-control. He could suppress all kinds of feelings so that only his logic and his instinct of survival prevailed though he ignored that these two couldn't co-exist. He had achieved such control over his body that even a psychic type would be jealous. That was why he had a solid expression on his face. He never cried, he never laughed, he only had a harsh and solemn expression while his eyes were able to freeze you with their coldness.

Yet, there was something in them that showed a part of his hidden self. Some kind of sadness and softness he would never admit it existed inside him, had someone informed him of that fact.

Of course, there was no one to tell him about it. He had no friends, no relatives, not even enemies. He was all alone in that world. An unknown Pokemon between thousands of other unknown Pokemon. He lived for himself and himself alone.

That's when somebody could ask what did the Grovyle like in such a life and what compelled him to keep living in a world plunged in eternal darkness.

There was no sunlight, no warmth, no colors. No winds blew, no sounds were heard, no rain fell. Everything was frozen at place for ever. The rocks that had begun to crumble stood afloat, others high on the air and others just a few inches above the ground. Running water had stopped flowing, thus creating a sprinkle of water drops that would never hit the ground.

Mountains that were collapsing when the world was paralyzed had become a pile of broken rocks standing in mid-air, rain drops hanged from the trees' leaves never to fall, most of the trees had withered and there was almost no foliage.

It was a sad world and its inhabitants didn't have a clue that it was not the way it should be.

So, why was the Grovyle and the rest of the Pokemon trying so hard to survive? The answer was unknown to them as well. There was something in the concept of being alive that made them cling to that life with all their strength, going to the extent to turn into heartless beasts in order to secure their grip.

He had not gone to that extent but he was close to, unfortunately. And, the problem is, that he thought it was an achievement. That was why he was proud he had become so strong. He was proud that he had killed the kid inside him.

But he was wrong. The kid he couldn't even remember he once was was still there in the form of a single memory and a single memory alone. A young Treeko next to two Sceptiles with faded characteristics, holding a round ball -the only game he had ever had- laughing happily with his toy. That was probably the last time he had laughed in his life, a long time ago.

And he had made sure to bury that memory in the deepest part of his mind.

That was the way he was back then. A thief, a heartless being and a complete loner. So much of a loner that he had forgotten his name. Since there was no one to call him, he didn't need a name to use. He was just a Grovyle who stole his food.

He was Grovyle the Thief.

Grovyle kept jumping from tree to tree in search of some food. He would cross the forest like he always did in hopes of smelling, hearing or seeing something that would give him one more day of life. A single, miserable day.

And, to his surprise, he did hear something. It had nothing to do with food, though. He only heard a malicious laughter before a dark purple figure jumped out of nowhere and collided with him.

The other Pokemon managed to catch its balance and continued its way not caring about who he had hit. The grass-type though was knocked from the branch he stood on and crashed on the ground with a loud thud.

Shaking his head to make the dizziness disappear, he tried to stand up. _Tried._ His attempt failed as, when he used his right leg to jump up, the pain was so intense that made him collapse again.

That was when fear clutched his heart. He had been damaged. That single unfortunate event could be proven fatal if nothing was done. Some predator would find him there, weak and helpless and that would be the end.

He made an attempt to stand up again but he failed once more, this time uttering a cry of agony. Panic started to take over his mind. He had never been in a similar situation before. If he had, he wouldn't have lived to tell the tale.

He rolled to his side until he lied prone on the ground. He then used his hands and his other leg to push himself forward, crawling towards a tree. He moved slowly, though and he got tired quickly.

His plan was to try to climb on the tree where he would be safer and then… Then he would think what he would do.

He needed to keep crawling just a little more until his hand would touch the trunk but that was when he heard footsteps. He froze. His instincts told him to stand up and climb on the tree but he knew that he should make as little noise as possible and, in his condition, a frantic climb on a tree would make _a lot _of noise.

Using all of his strength to control himself, he forced all fear to disappear from his mind and let logic prevail. He knew that most Pokemon could smell the fear so he suppressed that feeling by thinking that maybe they hadn't come for him.

However, the footsteps were approaching each second that passed until the smell of the creature reached his nostrils. If he was thinking straight, he would have been able to realize that there was something unusual with that smell but he wasn't.

Once more forbidding fear to control him, he decided that it was time he fought for his life. Even though he was injured, he wasn't going to die easily. Not after all these hardships he had gone through in order to be able to live longer.

He managed to sit up after some trying and some more winces and groans and the blades on his wrists formed. The grey bushes in front of him rustled and he prepared to face whatever appeared from behind them.

But he was definitely not prepared to face what he saw. A slender, two-legged creature showed herself –it was female. Her skin had a pale white color but most of her body was covered in different-colored skins. To be precise her legs were entirely covered in a white skin except for her feet that were put inside some strange things made of very thick blue and white leather. Her torso was covered with two skins. One seemed to be red in color but, as it was covered with a thicker, white-colored skin, he couldn't be sure. Lastly, the Grovyle noticed her face. Brown slightly curled at their tips hair that had grown a bit past her shoulders framed her face nicely and hazel eyes stared at him curiously.

The grass-type suppressed a gasp. What stood in front of him was a human! All he knew about them were from rare discussions among other Pokemon as he had never seen one himself. If what he had heard was true, though, humans were supposed to live desolated in their cities, leaving their homes only in very rare occasions. They had absolutely nothing to do with Pokemon and neither did the Pokemon. Two different worlds both immersed into their misery.

What was she doing there? The Grovyle knew that he was quite close to a human town but he didn't expect to be close enough to see a human around. Besides, these creatures weren't supposed to venture far from their habitats. Especially someone as young as that female. He could see that she was in the phase between childhood and adulthood, still pretty young to leave the safety of her home.

Then again, he himself was constantly away from the safety of his home since he was a mere kid.

These thoughts passed from the Pokemon's mind in the few seconds the two stared at each other dumbfounded. Then, the human decided to act. She took a timid step forward something that made the grass-type crawl backwards warily.

"I don't want to hurt you." the human told him. He was surprised to hear her voice. That was one, because he didn't expect to be able to understand her and two, because he never expected to hear such a calm tone in anyone's voice. All sounds he had ever heard were growls, hisses and threats. But her voice was warming and rang beautifully to his ears.

Unintentionally, he let out a growl. She didn't seem to be scared or at least she didn't _show _she was.

"Your leg seems hurt." She said. "What happened to you?"

He didn't reply. _'She looks harmless but it might be a trap.'_ He thought to himself. _'What kind of creature would have survived if it really was so harmless?' _

He had noticed the lack of claws and fangs as well as the lack of some element of the human. She had no warmth like fire types and there was no electricity around her like the electric types. All he could think of was that she was psychic as she resembled them quite a lot.

"I really don't want to hurt you." she repeated in the same calming voice and without making any sort of move. "I can help you to get better even!"

"Why would you want to help me?" he asked her in the same tone. He was careful not to show his feelings or provoke her in any way. If she was a psychic, she might try to take over his mind.

"Because there's no reason for me to harm you." she replied and the Grovyle couldn't keep the gasp from escaping his mouth that time. She could understand him! Even though he had spoken to her, he wasn't sure if she could understand him or not.

After getting over his shock, though, he narrowed his eyes and remained silent, perfectly alert.

"Look," she started seeming disappointed with his refusal to believe or talk to her. "I heard a noise and I rushed to see what was wrong. I thought that someone might need help, help that I could offer. I can take you to the hospital where they can fix you. I have no intention to harm you in any way."

He was starting to lose his temper. What was that stuff about "hospitals"? Was she trying to confuse him with weird words?

"I'm not leaving unless you let me help you." she said stubbornly and crossed her arms at her chest without sounding bossy; she kept the same calm, friendly tone.

"Don't push it!" the Grovyle told her, trying to threaten her. He though realized that he failed utterly. He couldn't get himself to sound angry or scary. That girl emitted such a calming aura that prevented him from feeling anything bad about her.

She didn't react like most of the Pokemon he had met would. She didn't mock him for threatening her when he clearly was at a disadvantage and she didn't seem scared either. He only noticed something like an amused smile on her face but it was there for so little, he could have imagined it as well.

She put her hand into a pocket the second skin at her legs had. The Grovyle tensed. Maybe she was about to make a move. He prepared to defend himself. The girl took out of the pocket a plastic bottle and a gauze roll. She threw them to him and he quickly dodged. The bottle and the roll fell on the ground right next to him.

Nothing happened.

He honestly expected them to explode like Delibird's Present attack but they didn't. He cautiously examined them and poked them with his claw. Nothing happened again. Chuckling was heard and he turned around surprised.

Laughter!

He hadn't heard someone laugh since… since… since he was a baby. He would have forgotten what it sounded like if it wasn't for those that laughed ironically now and then. It seemed like the girl hadn't laughed in a long time too, though. She even seemed surprised with herself.

"What are you laughing at?" the Grovyle asked her, offensively. He took it as some kind of insult as that was what he was used to think of laughter: it was only there to insult you and make you feel inferior.

"I just thought it was funny that someone was afraid of something _I _did. Me? Scary?" she replied, a faint smile still on her face.

"I wasn't afraid. I was just being careful." He muttered and turned to take the two things in his hands thus not noticing another amused smile that could have annoyed him.

The bottle had something written on it in a language he couldn't understand. He examined it and realized that he could open it. He did so and saw a ream that smelled weirdly. He took some on his claw and looked at it, smelling it once more. He figured that it had something to do with his leg as the smell reminded him of the herbs Pokemon used for muscle aches.

He rubbed his leg with the cream and waited. If it really was what he thought it was, it would need a couple of minutes to work. Indeed, his leg started to feel very warm and the pain lost its intensity. He would probably be able to stand up and walk now though it would still hurt him.

He then took the gauze roll. Pokemon used vines to hold broken bones at their place when someone was hurt so he imagined that the use of those white things was something similar to that. He carefully bandaged his ankle in a way that would prevent it from moving much but would allow him to use his leg. He cut the gauze with his blade and tied a knot when he was finished. He then slowly stood up.

"Do you trust me, now?" the human kid asked him, seeming surprised that he had managed to do everything by himself, even though he didn't understand what was so great about him bandaging his leg. "Will you come to the hospital?"

He didn't reply. Trust? That was a big word. How could he trust her just like that? She could still be trying to trap him. If that wasn't the case then why did she want him to follow her so badly?

She sighed. "We can't work without trust." She told him and the Grovyle had to agree. Even though he had never trusted anyone and nobody trusted him either, he had to admit that, if two people where to do something together, there should be trust among them. There were plenty of traitors around. "If I'm not sure you can trust me, I can't take you with me. What if you attack me halfway there?"

He chortled. So that was the problem? _She _was afraid that _he _would attack her out of fear for whatever her intentions were? He thought it was the other way round. "Are you really so naïve or are you trying to trap me?" he couldn't help but ask.

The girl seemed insulted. "Naive? I'm trying to help you and call me naïve? _You_ are just overly suspicious!"

"If you think you hurt me now, you're mistaken! I'm proud of being suspicious." He replied, unable to hide a smile. He was having fun! It was so long since he had fun for the last time.

That human girl was really a weird person. No, not weird. Just different. She had that calmness that made you feel safe when you were around her and she seemed a strong person even though she was far from how he would normally define strong. She wasn't intimidating, she wasn't harsh, she wasn't arrogant yet she emitted some kind of mental strength even when she was talking normally. Not to mention that she had the strength to joke. Only a few were able to joke in such a miserable world.

"I see you're a stubborn one. So am I! I'm not leaving unless you come with me." She crossed her arms on her chest and waited with a gentle smile.

"I think you'll wait so long you'll become as grey and still as the trees of this forest." He replied but at the same time stood up slowly, biting his tongue slightly to prevent a low gasp of pain to be heard.

He walked with small, painful steps towards her and her smile became even wider though she was careful not to make it seem triumphant as that could anger the Pokemon. That didn't go unnoticed by the grass type. It even made him appreciate her more. No, he couldn't trust her completely yet -trust was built over time- but he could say that he had taken a liking to her.

"So be it, then." She said and raised her arm at the height of her waist, clenching her fingers to a fist.

He raised his brows perplexed. What was she doing?

"Don't tell me you'll walk all the way to the town on your own." She said after noticing his expression. "It will put too much strain to your leg."

He, then, understood. She wanted him to lean on her arm. He timidly raised his own, clawed hand, reluctant to touch her. Until now, he had only touched other beings during fights. Touching someone else in a friendly way seemed alien to him.

However, he noticed that she too found the situation a bit awkward as she bit her already dry and chapped lips which she seemed to have bitten hundreds of other times. Her awkwardness made him feel a little bit better. At least they were in that together.

His hand touched her arm. They both flinched slightly at first but they both ignored it. The Grovyle secured his grip but was careful not to grab her too hard and hurt her with his claws. They started walking slowly and steadily, synchronizing their pace to avoid stumbles, and headed to that "hospital".

They couldn't know it back then but, that day would be decisive not just for the Pokemon and the girl, but for the fate of the entire world as well.


End file.
